This timely designation gives insights into how the personalities, attitudes and preferences of home buyers, and the consuming public in general, come to be defined by their generational identification. Specific age groups have common life experiences and influences that affect their needs and wants, and the way they approach major life decisions. In addition, each generation is affected differently by changes in financing, retirement systems, estate planning, tax laws, and housing design and location. And there is little doubt that the current economic turmoil is having different effects on each generation as they pass through their unique stage of life.

The GHS™ Designation course encompasses the past 100 years of real estate to fully understand the generational shifts that have occurred on a recurring basis and that offer an explanation of the effects of peer personalities on the current five different generations that make up the real estate market today. As part of the education required to earn the GHS™, the real estate professional will review the characteristics of each generation, their motivations, and the factors that enter into the purchase and sale of real property. These studies will take the student through today's challenging economic times and explore the trends that are taking us into the future.

Generations in the Marketplace

Over the past two decades, there has been considerable attention paid to the focused real estate needs of senior citizens. Today we need to be more inclusive in our understanding of the impact of generational identification on other consumers in the marketplace. People in each of the following generations is faced with challenges that are unique to their station in life:

Millennials - an emerging market buying earlier than any generation that has gone before. Its members include many foreign born.
Generation X - they are the most active buyers but housing choices have changed to accommodate more family time and lessen commutes.
Boomers -buyers in their highest earning years (but not all share the prosperity). Investments in real estate and the stock market have been depleted with the economic crisis.
Silents -the highest homeownership rates and with large equity. Tend to be conservative and stable although some are upgrading but down-sizing.
G.I. Generation - the original seniors, many now lost to us.

Issues that Uniquely affect Real Estate Decisions

In representing and counseling clients, it is important to recognize how the major financial issues listed below impact the purchase and sale of real estate by generational groups.

Taxation - including tax law implications for the taxation of capital gains in the sale, exchange or inheritance of residential and investment property
Asset planning - reviewing the importance of the vesting of title and estate planning related to real estate
Financing options - a close look at today's varied options for forward mortgages, the availability of reverse mortgage packages, and the essential role of the secondary market
Retirement issues - pensions, investments, and equity building, focusing especially on the role of real estate in retirement planning

Generations in the Real Estate Workplace

While agents need to understand generational characteristics to truly "represent" the best interests of the client and thereby become the "Agent of Choice," brokers also need to understand generational differences to effectively recruit, train and retain agents and staff.  Brokers also need to be aware of  possible generational tensions that can arise within an office or within a transaction.

GHS™ Aspirations

A Generational Housing Specialist™ has taken the initiative to expand his or her knowledge about the specific needs and issues of each of these generations. The goal of the GHS™ professional is to build a strong relationship with each unique client and to establish a successful relationship with other professionals who are a part of the "team" working toward the highest and best interests of the client. Become the Agent of Choice and secure a Client for Life.

Become a GHS™

Earn the right to use the trademarked GHS™ logo and to identify yourself as a Designated Generational Housing Specialist™.

Contact admin@GHSDesignation.com for more information